Motivating Sales Reps for Innovation Selling in Different Cultures

Innovation commercialization, an important managerial challenge, depends heavily on the sales force for its success. However, little empirical research has examined how firms should direct sales reps in this task in a global, multicultural context. Drawing on self-determination theory, this study investigates how to motivate sales reps for innovation selling in different cultures with various financial and nonfinancial steering instruments. The authors collected data in two waves from sales reps in 38 countries on four continents, making this study one of the largest international investigations in sales research. Results reveal that steering instruments should correspond closely with reps’ national culture in terms of power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation. For example, findings show that whereas individualism strengthens the positive relationship between variable compensation for innovation-sales results and financial innovation performance through innovation-selling motivation, power distance and uncertainty avoidance weaken this relationship. Results also reveal that long-term orientation strengthens the positive relationship between supervisor appreciation for innovation-sales results and financial innovation performance through innovation-selling motivation.